Brothers
by Guest98101
Summary: Pikachu becomes a human, and is distraught. This is not how it was supposed to be! Him an Ash were supposed to be best buddies for life. Where does that put them now? Will he ever be able to change back? This story focuses on more the bond of friendship Ash and Pikachu have, rather than the potential romance (sorry to Pikashippers).


The chill cut through to the skin of Ash Ketchum, as he struggled up the snowy mountain-side. It was only now, he admitted, coming up the mountain at this time had been a bad idea. _Why didn't I just go under it like any normal person?! _The storm was really blocking his vision, and he knew that he and Pikachu were definitely lost. All they could do now was keep going up. But what if they missed the entrance? The mountain was a big place, and he could easily go past it without them noticing. He just had to hope and pray.

_Please. Please help me and Pikachu out of this!_

Suddenly a howl echoed across the mountain, and before him stood a wild Beartic.

_Please don't attack us!_

The Beartic roared, aggressively and slowly started to advance towards them.

"I don't want to do this!" said Ash, stepping back. Pikachu chimed in, begging in Pokemon language for the carnivore to stop. This just gave the Beartic more momentum. It began to charge, accelerating surprisingly quickly toward them.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" shouted Ash finally. The rodent leapt off Ash, charging his tail, before letting a few thousand volts shock the Beartic, who fell to the floor unconscious. Ash stood there for a minute over his fallen adversary, and for some reason felt... pity. That Beartic had only been after some food, scarce as that was around here. And now, if he didn't do something, it might not wake up. He had to catch it. For its own protection, he had to. But what if the creature had cubs? He felt a chill colder than the freezing temperatures race down his spine. If he caught this animal now, it would never return home... its cubs would... die? No... He couldn't capture it... But he had to!

"Pikachu... What do you think?" Ash turned to his friend "Should I catch it?"

Pikachu looked up into the eyes of his trainer. There was no greed or selfishness in Ash's eyes, just concern. He knew the decision Ash was trying to make, and it wasn't easy. Even he didn't know what to do. All he knew, was that Ash couldn't leave it here.

"Pika..." he choked slowly, to show Ash that he knew the problem Ash was facing. What could he do? Suddenly, Ash turned to Pikachu his eyes sparkling.

"I think I've got it!" he smiled "If I catch it, and heal it... Then we can release it once it's all better!" Pikachu lit up. Just like Ash to think of something like that!"

"Achu!" he squealed with delight to show his approval.

"Alright, go pokeball!" cried Ash, throwing a pokeball in the classic way of Ash Ketchum. The ball hit the Beartic, and began to ricochet, opening itself up as it did so. The red beam appeared, engulfing itself over the creature transporting it into the pokeball. Finally, the ball landed in the hands of Ash. The fate of this pokemon was in his hands now.

"Alright Beartic," he finished "Let's get you healed up!" He put the Pokeball in his pocket and began walking forward. Then one of his steps went further into snow than usual. That's odd. Maybe the ground was a bit lower here than he had anticipated. He took another step, and realised something was wrong. The ice under him was giving way. He began to sink... an inch... another 2 inches... then it gave way completely.

* * *

He was suddenly falling, not sure where or why. But he was falling fast and far. The fall stopped just as abruptly as it had begun. He hit hard stone. Pain soared through his body. Slowly he tried to stand up. To his relief nothing was broken, and he only had minor injuries on his knees and shoulder. Looking around, he found that he must be in some sort of cave that the snow had managed to conceal. It was very big, leading further into the mountain. Maybe this was the entrance he and Pikachu had been looking for. Pikachu! Where was his friend? He looked around in a panic, and then gave a sigh of relief when he saw the rodent 10 feet away. Pikachu had landed on some snow that had fallen in with them, cushioning his fall and Ash could see that Pikachu was fine, if a little shaken.

"You OK buddy?"

"Pika..."

"Cheer up mate! I think this is the entrance!" Pikachu's countenance lightened up. Giving a nod to Ash, they set off into the tunnel. Ash reached for a torch, and turned it on, illuminating the area. A wave of Zubat flew into his face, before flying in fear from the Trainer. There was a strange unsettling atmosphere, and the two kept close together. The cave seemed to curve round, with no light except that coming from Ash's torch. Ash really wasn't sure what to make of the place. Some of it looked like it had been used before, maybe even mined. Other points looked completely untouched; bare rock and earth that weren't to be disturbed. But there was only one path he could follow – straight ahead. _Path_. Why did he call it that? Surely it was just a tunnel? Paths lead somewhere, carrying purpose and choice. How could he resemble this low place with something much more orderly?

The silence was broken by a low moan coming from Pikachu. It had stopped, facing the wall to the side, its hair standing on end, and its red pouches buzzing furiously with electricity.

"What's wrong buddy?" asked Ash, bending down to Pikachu as he did so. Then he saw it. Along the wall, lined up in an artistic arrangement were letters of the Unknown. He gulped. Clearly they weren't the first who had crossed this place. But wasn't that a good thing? Why was this place so eerie?

"Chill out Pikachu" he finally said "It's just some old letters. Come on, let's go!" walking away slowly. Pikachu sighed; it was not just the letters which had scared him. But Ash was carrying on regardless, so Pikachu bounded after him. On going round another corner, it seemed they had reached a dead end. There wasn't a turn, and straight on just became a black wall. Ash and Pikachu walked cautiously forward. It couldn't just stop here... could it?

* * *

"Waaa! Woah!" shrieked Ash, leaning over the edge of what looked like a 40 ft drop. The cave had made an illusion of the tunnel just carrying on, but on getting closer, it was noticeable the hole in the floor went down into a larger shaft, even deeper into the mountain. It didn't look promising. And if they went down there wasn't a huge chance they'd make it back up. Then Ash thought he saw something glint over on the other side of the shaft. He switched off the torch, and sure enough there was a small light giving vision to the surrounding area. Maybe that was the way out?

"Come on Pikachu!" he whispered. Attaching the end of a rope to a sturdy rock, he gradually eased himself down, his torch in his mouth. The rock was moist and slippery, causing him to nearly fall a few times. It seemed to get colder, and Pikachu began to shiver. Then the rope ran out. Ash wasn't sure how far he'd come, but it still seemed a good few metres to the bottom. There was nothing for it. There was no turning back now. He straightened himself up, and let go of the rope. Pikachu screamed. The ground flew toward him, the air rushed passed him, then came the impact.

The rock was cold and hard, but they were OK. Pikachu squeaked in anger. Ash laughed.

"Sorry Pikachu, I had the torch in my mouth, so I forgot to tell you."

"Pika!" muttered Pikachu miserably. Slowly Ash scrambled to his feet.

"Now where was that light..." he wondered, scanning across the landscape. Then he saw it. Almost like a little crack in the cave wall. He made his way over to it. Pikachu followed behind very cautiously. He looked through it and gasped. Sure enough, there was something going on down here! Peering through the crack, he saw an amazing array of white coats and blue walls. A massive hall built inside the rock was alive with people running across it, calling out commands, driving trucks and analysing computers which ran around the side of it. It was hard to see where the room stopped and the cave ceiling began. Was there even a ceiling? There was a lot interesting technology Ash could see; the sort of things Clemont would love! But what drew his attention most was the middle of the hall. A big silvery rock about 3 metres in diameter sat there, analysed and monitored by at least 10, maybe 20 scientists. It gave off a strange... Aura? Was that what he could feel from it?

Looking around still further he finally spotted what he wanted. Brandon was there, overseeing the operation. That was all he needed to know.

"Hey! Brandon!" he called through the crack, attempting to make himself head over the noise of the machinery. Brandon looked absent-mindedly over, before jumping out of his skin.

"A-Ash?!" he gasped.

"Yup!" laughed Ash. But Brandon looked serious. Scared even.

"Get out of there Ash!" he shouted.

"W-What? Why?"

"You and Pikachu are in danger out there!"

"Danger? What do you mean?"

"There's no time to explain! Just run to your left and don't back! There's a walkway along there. Get there now!"

"Got it!" said Ash, and turned to run. Then he saw why Brandon was worried.


End file.
